Fire at the White Hart hotel, Lewes.

[Triggaaar]

I'll tell you where I am:

I'm on the fence!

Accidents do happen, and if you carelessly set fire to yourself, then it's you that's careless and not the fault of the establishment. But, the hotel is responsible to make sure this wouldn't happen just by sitting in a chair - the candles shouldn't be that close to you. So who was careless, the OP or the hotel? We can't be sure from the above, but it does sound like the hotel made this an accident waiting to happen.

 

[Uncle Spielberg]

Accident Compensation Helpline, Your personal injury claims specialists

Shocking neglect from the Hotel. I mean there should have been signs saying " beware naked flame , it may get hot, do not sit too closely, the Hotel is not responsible for someone sitting too close and setting fire to themselves " at the very least.

Where there's a blame, there's a claim.

 

[lost in london]

Accident Compensation Helpline, Your personal injury claims specialists

Shocking neglect from the Hotel. I mean there should have been signs saying " beware naked flame , it may get hot, do not sit too closely, the Hotel is not responsible for someone sitting too close and setting fire to themselves " at the very least.

Where there's a blame, there's a claim.

Exactly. Every candle should have a little sign on it informing people (because this is news to me, thank god I read this thread) that putting your coat onto or very near to a flame may result in it catching on fire.

I wonder if anything else put near a flame might catch on fire? Given that you rarely see warning notices, I don't know how I'll ever know.

I hope you get millions and ensure that no pub in the future will ever have a candle in it.

 

[papajaff]

This has got to be the most stupid thread ever started.

Go in to a pub, sit near a candle, set yourself on fire, then go home and log on to NSC to tell all about it. Most people would have thought; what a prat I am for doing that.

 

[Gazwag]

I think we should all be thankful that the fire was not lit

 

[One Love]

Sadly your view is the way current thinking is these days, there's no room for 'reasonable' behaviour - as has been pointed out most people would have gone "Hmm, naked flame, best be careful". At best it's 'no fault' as any failing of the Duty of Care on behalf of the pub can be countered by the stupidity of the OP, but that isn't the way these events are perceived these days. It's like the branch of Mcdonalds who were prosecuted because the coffee was 'too hot'.

Probably best to ban candles altogether before someone gets hurt. Certainly if the pub is found to be at fault in any way you can bet they won't have any more candles on the premises for 'Health and Safety' reasons.

Your example about McDonalds is I agree ridiculous.

There's a huge difference in arriving in a bar having been drinking all night with your mates and sitting in a chair not noticing a candle behind you.

That jacket if made of the wrong stuff could have gone up in a ball of flames.

 

[Tricky Dicky]

This has got to be the most stupid thread ever started.

Sadly, far from it. This tale add dramatically to the depth of human knowledge compared to many threads we've had.

 

[One Love]

This has got to be the most stupid thread ever started.

Go in to a pub, sit near a candle, set yourself on fire, then go home and log on to NSC to tell all about it. Most people would have thought; what a prat I am for doing that.

If someone injures themselves in one of my premises where my Health & Safety policies are lacking, I hope it's someone like you.

 

[Uncle Spielberg]

How on gods green earth have the hotel been negligent ?

 

[Uncle Spielberg]

Did you fall over a paving slab because you did not look where you were going ?, did you fall off a ladder whilst at work ?, did you slip on a floor whilst in a public building ?, did you sit infront of a candle and then get set alight ?, sometimes SORRY is not enough, where there's a blame there's a claim.

 

[Billy the Fish]

That jacket if made of the wrong stuff could have gone up in a ball of flames.

Then don't put it in a bloody candle then

If someone injures themselves in one of my premises where my Health & Safety policies are lacking, I hope it's someone like you.

Yes, a reasonable person rather than some twerp who needs every possible danger spelled out to them so they don't injure themselves.

Many people aren't willing to take responsibility for their own safety anymore, and it's detrimental to all our lives. I wonder how many other people have managed to drink in that bar perfectly safe without setting fire to themselves

 

[Bozza]

I sat, with a group of friends, only to notic3e it getting rather warm.

This line keeps making me laugh.

It reminds me of an old Uni chum who, when drunk one evening, "noticed something didn't feel quite right."

As it happens, he'd shat himself.

I wonder who he sued for that unfortunate incident that was clearly no fault of his own.

 

[Woodchip]

Did you fall over a paving slab because you did not look where you were going ?, did you fall off a ladder whilst at work ?, did you slip on a floor whilst in a public building ?, did you sit infront of a candle and then get set alight ?, sometimes SORRY is not enough, where there's a blame there's a claim.

Don't be daft GG. No-one in their right mind would be stupid enough to set themselves on fire with a candle...

Oh, hang on.

 

[Gwylan]

It's like the branch of Mcdonalds who were prosecuted because the coffee was 'too hot'.

That's a bit misleading. McD's wasn't prosecuted, there was a civil action brought. McDonalds was found liable because there were insufficient warnings as to the temperature of the coffee. Interestingly, attempts to bring similar cases in the UK have failed because judges have ruled that customers could realistically expect hot coffee to be, well, hot.

I suspect that a similar ruling would apply in this case. It could be reasonably expected that a naked flame could set things alight and I reckon a case would be dismissed for that reason.

 

[papajaff]

If someone injures themselves in one of my premises where my Health & Safety policies are lacking, I hope it's someone like you.

Forgive me but am I supposed to give a shit? So tell me where one of your premises is and I'll try to avoid.

 

[HAILSHAM SEAGULL]

Get on the phone to BPR Bloomer or whatever their name is in that annoying advert

 

[Mr Burns]

Jesus christ I hate what is becoming of the world sometimes. Why do people look to blame a person or establishment after every single ACCIDENT?

You were stupid/pissed enough to set fire to yourself and you start bleating to the manager about compensation and duty of care. How about you take responsibility for you own actions rather than blaming some poor barmaid or bar manager.

Take it further Don't be an arsehole, and don't waste yours and everyone else's time, life's too shot for this trivial crap.

THIS THIS AND THIS.

I had a rather hot curry last night, and stung my arse whilst having a shit this morning. Maybe I should sue the curry powder company.

Maybe you should sue the council for not taking care to stop you geting wet in the rain.

Any pub crawl I was on and this happened, it would have not just been the barmaid having a laugh.

For f*** sake man up, and dont sit so close to a naked flame, and in further you may find you dont get set alight

 

[Mr Burns]

If someone injures themselves in one of my premises where my Health & Safety policies are lacking, I hope it's someone like you.

 

[Shizuoka Dolphin]

This line keeps making me laugh.

It reminds me of an old Uni chum who, when drunk one evening, "noticed something didn't feel quite right."

As it happens, he'd shat himself.

I wonder who he sued for that unfortunate incident that was clearly no fault of his own.

That was quite funny until the last line which was trying way too hard to be funny, and just comes over a bit stupid.

 

[The Merry Prankster]

I suspect the hand of Darwin at work here.